Bonus for blind character

[DonTadow]

Luckily, D&D has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with portraying myths

Hmm now if only someone can find scientific articles to explain away orcs, elves, dwarves, undead, dragons, magic, dungeons, ect.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

They don't get better at using their other senses because they gain something in those areas that others who are sighted do not also possess. I feel the quote speaks to how the player distributes the points that any character would get regardless of the disability. I'd equate it with a player of a blind character putting Skill points he might have placed in Spot into Listen instead. A blind person doesn't have any advantage over a sighted person at becoming the world's best listener simply by virtue of being blind.

I agree, they don't have to put any points into Spot, so they are more likely to be able to max out Listen. Giving them a bonus to Listen allows them to be better than anyone of the same experience - superior ability. I say they can just devote more attention to the sense of hearing, reflected by the points put there instead of in Spot, not that they actually have better hearing.

 

[Mark]

Luckily, D&D has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with portraying myths

Hiya, Mav!

You're right, of course. There's no need to base anything on any kind of reality. You can completely replace science and reality with magic and fantasy but I got the impression that wasn't what Coredump wanted. I could be wrong in which case I'd say just give him a +1 bonus to any other Skill he can justify as having to do with his other senses, in any given moment, and move on. But then we're moving toward that Daredevil territory...

 

[Mark]

It doesn't say it's not in the rules to have this type of trait on the character.

Does it expressly forbid it? No, of course not. Is it part of standard character generation? Neither, that.

 

[Mark]

that deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball.

d20 Mod, man...

 

[Mark]

I agree, they don't have to put any points into Spot, so they are more likely to be able to max out Listen. Giving them a bonus to Listen allows them to be better than anyone of the same experience - superior ability. I say they can just devote more attention to the sense of hearing, reflected by the points put there instead of in Spot, not that they actually have better hearing.

It might even be wise to require the player to max out is Listen Skill with the points he already has.

 

[Zerovoid]

Everyone here seems to be really tough on this guy and his blind character, and I'm not sure why. If there's one thing I know DnD 3.x is about, its balance. All characters should be at roughly the same power level. That's why alot of people use point buy, and there is the table to use as a guideline for PC wealth by level.

When you take Vow of Poverty from the Book of Exalted Deeds, the DM doesn't just say, "Its tough being poor, live with it." No, you are given benefits to cancel out the disadvantage.

I would be relatively generous with this PC to make sure he is on the same power level as the others. I would probably just give him Blindsight or Tremorsense 15' or something without even making him spend a feat. I would think of it as the character having a slight variant of the snake shamaan class that includes both an additional benefit and a drawback.

The PC still can't tell what's going on in most normal situations without asking his companions, but at least this way he's not useless in combat and won't disrupt the game.

 

[I'm A Banana]

The Blind Seer is a totally gnarly fantasy and mythological staple. The idea that they see things that are in the spiritual realm, as opposed to the mortal realm, makes complete sense.

What I'd do is make a spell available, maybe a first-level spell, that allows him to see "life-energy" for something like a few hours/lv that allows him to target creatures that he could normally see.

You could build more off of that one spell, allowing him to access magic that enables him to "see things." These could be gifted to normal shamans, too, added to the spell list as if he researched the new spell. And he would sitll be spending a rescource to get this power.

There's a low-level spell called "Detect Undead." An acceptable variant would be to "Detect Living," ne?

 

[Celebrim]

Everyone here seems to be really tough on this guy and his blind character, and I'm not sure why...I would probably just give him Blindsight or Tremorsense 15' or something without even making him spend a feat.

I'm trying very hard to be completely fair to the player who wants to try something different, while at the same time being completely fair to the other players.

Blindsight/Tremorsense is a tremendous advantage.

1) You are very rarely completely blind. You can perfectly see in the dark, and ignore any concealment penalty associate with attacking something in the dark. You can see invisible creatures, and negate the effect of spells which obscure vision (displacement, blur, possibly mirror image). You 'see' right through silent figments as if they weren't there.
2) You are immune to many gaze attacks, and any other attack which effects your vision. Medusa's don't turn you to stone.
3) You are harder to sneak up on. You automatically make any spot or listen checks on targets within the blindsight range.

The point is that I'm perfectly happy to help a role player create a viable character. But I have no desire to help a powergamer create a min/max'd twink. Starting with two additional feats should be enough to make the character a viable monk, shaman, or druid*, but not an overpowering member of the team despite the big handicap.

*Note: I'd require that anything a blind character of this sort shapechange into be also blind. Wild shaping into a creature that can see would not allow you to see. Wild shaping into a bat or dolphin would of course be acceptable.

 

[Andor]

I'd just give him a 10% discount on guide dogs. He's going to need a new one after every area-of-effect spell after all.